Staff with high sickness absence to be denied pay rise

So the Trust says that 'The Trust said the decisions on pay would be discretionary and would not be applied to people with long-term illnesses or a disability'. Surely these people should be included in those not given a pay rise because, regardless of the reason for their sickness absence they would not have been contributing to the services the Trust provides and their work needing to be covered by those who are at work. The Trust presumably wishes to reward those who are fully contributing.
It could certianly be a legal headache but a sensible objective nonetheless.

Having said that, it seems strange that the public sector is still assuming that pay rises will be given, and paid for out of our taxes, whilst vast numbers of us in the private sector haven't seen pay increases for some time.

It's begun, the progress toward needing a "Fit-Note" prior to working and to maintain continuous right to employment probably starting with an annual review followed by fitness assessment / test ing on an annual basis in order to qualify for last years salary let alone renewel of shorter and shorter employment contracts.......

Of course it's not discrimnation just like I am a Jedi Knight according to national census statistics or just about to be selected for astronaut training following my career as a desk test pilot like you know innit bril man - whateveeer....

After all how are they gonna get around the Equity Bill and increased monitoring of occupational health over the coming years as the friendly fire of insidious workplace stressors is recognised to significantly contribute to exponential rise in health problems and unexplained collateral damage to human resources.